


Pain is Strong (But Wolves are Stronger)

by kissmeasifall



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I suck at tagging sorry, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-16 19:22:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2281653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissmeasifall/pseuds/kissmeasifall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, things aren't always that great for people in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pain is Strong (But Wolves are Stronger)

Derek stood on the opposite side of the room, staring at Isaac in disbelief. A few blinks later and he turned his head to look at the shattered plate on the ground -- just a few feet from where he was standing. With a swallow, he returned his shocked gaze to Isaac. It took a second before he had enough composure to speak. 

“What the hell has gotten into you?” He asked, his voice low and a small undercurrent of a shake worried him. 

“It’s too much, Derek.” Isaac said, tears now running down his face. “This. Everything.” He said motioning around. 

It felt like a punch to the gut for Derek. Sure, he could admit that things weren’t going great for them. Money was never an issue, but the both of them were so messed up in their own ways that Derek wasn’t sure how he’d ever thought they’d make a functional pair. Of course, then they made the decision to adopt Scott. Derek wasn’t sure what that was about, but now they had the most adorable boy in the world to take care of. That terrified Derek to his core because he wasn’t even sure how they were supposed to take care of themselves. 

Derek’s insides were screaming for him to cry. He’d never been as close to anyone as he was to Isaac. The guy held every part of his being in the palm of his hand; in that moment, it felt like it was all being tossed aside. Derek could tell his face was stoic though, concealing everything like he’d trained himself to do. Isaac’s face said he was feeling torn on the outside, but there was nothing Derek could do for that at the moment. 

“I need to go for a bit.” Isaac said. 

The sound of the door closing behind Isaac echoed into the deepest parts of his soul. He supposed it was true that everyone would end up leaving him, despite his best efforts. He blinked hard, telling himself over and over to just breathe. He could keep the control of his own body if he just tried his hardest. The sound of shuffling behind him was enough to break him out of his shell. He turned to see a pajama-clad Scott staring up at him with those deeply colored, puppy eyes. 

Scott just continued to look up at Derek with a heart-wrenching despair in his eyes. Derek walked across the room and scooped him into his arms, pressing soft kisses to his cheek. A soft whimper left his small chest and he curled himself up against Derek’s chest. He could feel a soft wetness come through the fabric of his shirt. 

It wounded Derek to his core to know that the fallout of his fight with Isaac was affecting Scott. Honestly, he should know that the things happening around him could easily overwhelm him. Especially when it involved Isaac storming out, which had never happened before this moment. He took Scott into the nursery -- well, it was Scott’s old nursery that was slowly transitioning into his ‘big boy’ room. Derek still had a habit of calling it the nursery, and honestly, Scott was basically a toddler. So, the nursery it was. 

He sat down with Scott in the rocking chair. With his free hand, he reached out and turned the radio on, letting music softly fill the room. Derek gently rocked Scott, rubbing his back as he hummed along with the music. Being restless with anxiety, Scott wiggled around in Derek’s lap and even tried to fight his way out a time or two. This was nothing new to Derek and he knew that patient persistence would win out. Eventually, he got Scott to fall asleep and he tucked the little boy into his bed -- which had recently been upgraded to a race car bed, much to Scott’s delight. 

Derek quietly left Scott’s room and traveled down the hall to his own. He closed the door with a long exhale, almost mimicking the timing of the door; as though it had the power to collapse around his lungs and push all the air out of them. Inside, it was as if a bomb had gone off; or rather, a new bomb came to further wreck the wreckage of previous bombs. Derek Hale’s life was nothing but a series of emotional bombs. It wasn’t long before he’d collapsed onto his own bed. 

He lay there and the world seemed to press in around him all at once. Derek was always composed. Derek was always the fighter. He could press through anything -- he had pressed through a lot. There was no way he could let this minor skirmish between himself and Isaac tear him apart, but it was shredding his world. Suddenly, there was a wetness on his own pillow. It consumed him, this all-encompassing sorrow. How had this happened? What events had led up to this moment? What was he going to do? 

Then came the numbness that Derek relied so heavily on to get him through these moments. It swallowed him up into a pit of nothingness and it was soothing. The release of being able to stop feeling horrible emotions was great, at least in Derek’s eyes. It stopped the pain and that’s all he cared about. 

Sometime later, he woke up in his room and slowly sat up. Part of him was still aching from having wept and he rolled out of bed, slipping his feet down onto the floor. He could hear in the distance the tv running in the living room and knew that Scott had gotten up. The clock told him it was time for dinner. 

He made his way down the hall and into the kitchen. Even something as simple as pulling out the bag of chicken nuggets for Scott seemed contrived and proceeded in slow motion. Nothing in his world really made sense without Isaac in the picture; for the longest time, he had predicated his existence on the foundation that was Isaac. Soon enough, Scott’s nuggets were done and he made himself a quick sandwich. He took the food in on plates and settled in beside Scott, pulling him into his side as they watched the flashing images of the tv together. 

The night was long and heavy, the aftermath of Isaac’s abrupt departure weighing on Derek and Scott like a ton of stones. Derek had entered a state of numbness, his usual route for dealing with emotional pain. Scott was a little more obviously distraught, though he had calmed down considerably. As the night began to wind down to a close, Derek knew it was time to tuck Scott in for bed. The boy was resistant, struggling a bit in Derek’s arms as he realized where he was being carried off to, but Derek knew to just keep moving. Once they got into the room, he got Scott into some sleeping clothes and got him laid out on his mattress. 

Of course, no tuck-in would be complete without the obligatory reading of some of Stuart Little -- Scott’s absolute favorite book in the whole world. Derek didn’t make it any further than one page before he noticed that Scott’s eyes had drooped shut and his breathing fell into a steady, even pattern. Derek gave a small smile and turned out the light, kissing the little boy’s forehead. With that, he made his way down the hall into his own room. 

Collapsing onto the bed, Derek rubbed his face several times. A long, hollow breath left his chest and he just wanted this nightmare to be over .He just wanted Isaac to be back home, curled up in bed beside him. His phone vibrated against his still leg and it brought him back to an awareness of the present moment. 

“Derek?” Isaac's sniffle-heavy voice came through the phone. 

“Hello, Isaac.” Derek simply said. 

“I’m sorry, ok? Can I please come home?” 

Derek’s heart broke a little at the fact that Isaac would even feel the need to ask that, but he wasn’t going to deal with that right now. 

“Of course you can.” 

A little while later, Derek heard Isaac unlock the door and then Isaac appeared in the room a few moments later. He wiped at his face a bit, still obviously upset. Derek, being the natural caretaker, pulled Isaac down onto the bed, immediately shushing and comforting him. It took a long few minutes before Isaac had stopped crying and then he just grew still against Derek. Derek even nodded off a little himself. 

Sometime in the middle of the night, Derek was woken up by the feeling of Scott wiggling his little body in between his and Isaac’s. His guess was nightmare and he just simply stroked Scott’s hair as he tried to get back to sleep. Of course, as with any family, they had their issues. Derek wasn’t sure how they were going to get through them, but he knew it would be worth it in the end.


End file.
